CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS

During the past six months, many exciting water projects have begun construction within our city and county, as Rowan County and the City of Salisbury continue to work together to extend dependable water service to many additional areas in our county.  As a result of this partnership, the utilities operations of the City of Salisbury continue their remarkable transformation into a countywide, regional supplier of quality water and wastewater service - The Salisbury-Rowan Utilities Department.

The following are just several of over $35 million in expansion and improvement projects that are underway as we grow to serve our customers:

South Rowan Waterline - The Hwy 29 extension of the Salisbury system, which will serve southern Rowan County, including china Grove, Landis, Kannapolis, and the I-85 growth corridor, is underway.  This project will provide the area with a dependable supply of drinking water and eliminate the current water restrictions.  This project is projected for completions by February 2003.

Highway 52/Rockwell Waterline - An additional extension that will provide water to the Rockwell area is nearing completion down US 52 and Sides Road.  The Rockwell System, although owned and operated by Salisbury, is currently served by an overtaxed well system that will be eliminated as the system becomes fully connected to the Salisbury System during the summer of 2002.

Highway 70 Waterline - The extension of water lines, in western Rowan County, along US Highway 70  is under construction to provide an additional volume of water to that area.  An electrical co-generation facility, which is under construction in the vicinity of US 70 and NC 801, will also be served.  This project is projected for completion by March 2003.

Water Plant Expansion - The planned upgrade of the sedimentation processes at the Salisbury Water Plant will increase our treatment capacity to at least 24 million gallons of drinking water per day.  This will enable us to meet increased demands expected over the next several years.  A sand-ballasted rapid sedimentation process called Actiflo, will be added as a pretreatment process, enabling us to keep the existing treatment plant in operation during construction.

These projects are just a few of the many changes underway at the Salisbury-Rowan Utilities Department as we continue to grow to meet the ever-increasing need of our customers in Rowan County.  We continue to work and plan to ensure that our customers and communities will have a safe and plentiful supply of water both now and in the future!

Drinking water for Salisbury customers comes from the Yadkin River.

Our intake is located on the Rowan-Davidson County line above the confluence of the South Yadkin River. The Yadkin Pee Dee River basin is the second largest river basin in NC, covering 7,213 square miles of which 50% is forested. As can be seen from the map, rain that falls on the eastern slopes of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Caldwell, Wilkes, and Surry Counties begins the flow to Salisbury and High Rock Lake. Source Water Assessment and protection is important since many municipalities depend on this supply of water. Based on 1990 census data 1.2 million people live in this basin which results in a population density of 166 persons per square mile. For information on flow of the Yadkin River, the USGS web site is http://www.usgs.org. In the near future NC counties and cities will have to join together to protect this valuable water source. Studies are currently underway collecting data on water quality in this river basin.

During the 2001 Fiscal Year, the City of Salisbury and Rowan County reached a historic agreement for the City to assume the operation of all County-owned water and wastewater facilities, and additionally for the City to become the County's water and wastewater service provider.  As a result of this agreement, the City's Utilities Department was renamed the Salisbury-Rowan Utilities Department, to better reflect its new and expanded role as a regional and countywide service provider.  At that time, the Department assumed the responsibility of monitoring and operation of the 2nd Creek Wastewater Treatment Facility, and the County-owned water system on US 70.  The water for the Highway 70 system is purchased from the City of Salisbury.  Because this system is still owned by the County, additional analysis must be performed at locations along this line.  Locations in the distribution system are tested monthly for coliform bacteria.  Contaminants that were detected between July 1 and December 31, 2001 are found on the chart below:

Some people who drink water containing Trihalomethanes in excess of MCL over many years may experience problems with their liver, kidneys, or central nervous systems, and may have an increased risk of cancer.

In 2001, 20 samples for lead and copper were collected in the distribution system.  All were below the action level of 1.3 mg/l copper.  Only 1 sample showed more lead than the action level of .015 mg/l.  The result was .032 mg/l.
For questions, contact Greg Greene with Rowan County Environmental Services at (704) 638-3078.  System ID# 0180753.